TRANSIT I/De/A. ANNOUNCING A NEW BIENNALE TRANSIT I/De/A. Two events – The Design Assembly and The Design Route – organized in Brusselles from 18th October to 18th November 2001 was the launch event for this new Biennale the first edition of which is planned for 2003. Conceived by the Interieur Design Academy (I/De/A) and The Interieur Foundation – which are also the organizer of Interieur 02, the 18th International Biennale for Creative Interior Design that will be take place in Kortrijk Xpo (Belgium) from 18-27 October – TRANSIT I/De/A was a taster before the new biennale event that will be concerned with design and product development in general: from corporate and brand design, via automotive design and the information highway, to advertising, marketing, fashion and graphic design. The ambition of the new Biennale is to take the role of a global platform for cross-pollination between these different sectors. In The Design Assembly, helded in October 18th 2001, prominent designers from all over the world – such as Fernando and Humberto Campana, Matali Crasset, Konstantin Grcic, Ross Lovegrove, Maarten Van Severen – have debated about what is perhaps the most urgent question for the design discipline today: how should designers today position themselves in a world which is increasingly being turned into one enormous design object – an evolution whereby the concept of design is mostly interpreted as a marketing strategy, a lubricant which can make anyone consume anything. After the Assembly, for a whole month, The Design Route have tooked place. Two major events underpin The Design Route. On the one hand, two exhibitions at the Fondation pour l'Architecture: Tiborocity. Design and Undesign by Tibor Kalman 1979-1999, and Martí Guixé: Retrospective. On the other hand, in the rue Antoine Dansaert, Things to Come – an exhibition of object illustrating a view of a world that is becoming ever more mobile and nomadic – have tooked place in various locations, transforming the heart of Brussels into a "design neighbourhood". TRANSIT I/De/A, an Initiative of The Interieur Foundation & The Interieur Design Academy I/De/A Groeningestraat 37 B-8500 Kortrijk - Belgium tel: +32-56-22.95.22 fax: +32-56-21.60.77 e-mail: interieur@interieur.be website: www.interieur.be

Text by: Gabriella Masiello I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. in cooperation with: Elena Granchi Sonia Morini TOP